The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-04-20
TWENTY PEOPLE BURNED.
4 Midnight Fire in a Swarming
New York Tenement.
Men, Women and Children Rush.
ing Through Blazing Halls,

4 fire in the crowded tenement quarter ci
New York a few nights ago was OF an unusu,
ally exciting and dramatic character, many
people being burned, although happily no
lives were lost The following is the Suns
graphic account
Fire was discovered Just before midnight in
Levy's bakery in the basement of II Essex
street. The basement is common To the two
fivestory tenementS ut IL and IA
Essex street. and the flames ex-
tended through the sta'rwarS and
halls of each. About fifteen families live III
each house, and most of the members of the
thirty families in both were asleep in their
beds.
Escape was impossible by the halls and
sGairs, but each front was covered with an
ample fire escape. These were soon swarming
with men, women. and children. All the people
in the house were Polish Jews and their cries
and exclamations. joined with those of the
excited spectators III the ad Joining houses and
the street below, nIidr indcscEbable con-
susion
1t was feared at one line that many lives
would be lost. But She police and tiremen
worked gallantly and the fire escapes were
soon cleared. Some few persons had man.
aged to reach the ROOF, and these. too. We're
brought down.
A fireman said that several parents inthcir
excitement. deserted their sleeping children.
and were found on the fire escapes. while the
children were in bed when the firemen got ill.,
Among the rest We're abOuta Scole who had
been badly burned in attempting to escape
through the halls They were mostly burned
about the faces and arms.
The burned and blistrrcd skin. and the
smoke begrimcd faces and singcd heads
made horrible spectacle. especially us most
of the sufferers were women and children.
Many of them were carried down bodily
by the firemen. being unable to help them
selves. All were soon scattered about in the
neighboring houses in Essex and in Hester
streets, both hurt and unhurt speedily diSap-
pearing from the scene while the iiremen
fought and subdued the flames
The ambulances then began to arrive. The
work of gathering up the injured persons
made so much further confusion that it was
impossible to get oil of the names One Gou-
veineur Hospital ambulance took seven
Wrlthlng and CRYING patients from a
they had found shelter. 1t w was . ."on
hack after another load. In the mean time
Bellevue Hospital and Chambers street
amblllanceS had each gathered up a number.
The injured will number over twenty
No part of the house seemed to have been
secure. Some of those hurt lived on every
floor. The damage to the house was slight,
and was confined principally to the stairwayS
and the adjoining floors.
The Gouverneur Hospital gave shelter and
attendance to six women. four children and
a baby in arms, two men and Il hoy
The street was crowded with excited coun-
trvmen of the people in peril. AMI Captain
Allaire, with all his reserves, had difficulty in
keeping the front Of the house clear enough
for the fircmen to work. There was no fire
to be seen by the crowd. hut all sorts OF rll-
morS Of the horrors OF the fire We're in cir
culation III the street, and, borne out as they
were by the hurrynS ambulances held the
throng to the spot.